2002 Grozny truck bombing

Infobox terrorist attack
title=27 December 2002 Grozny bombing


caption=The bombing in a frame from an insurgent video
location=Grozny, Chechnya (Russia)
target=Chechen government HQ
date=December 27, 2002
time-begin=
time-end=
timezone=
type=Car bombs
fatalities=83
injuries=210
susperps=
perps=Riyadus SalihiinThe Grozny truck bombing occurred on December 27, 2002, when three Chechen suicide bombers ran vehicles into the heavily guarded republic's government headquarters in the regional capital Grozny.

Details

The drivers of two vehicles reportedly wore federal military uniforms and carried official passes which allowed them through three successive military checkpoints on their way to the headquarters building. A guard at the fourth and final checkpoint attempted to inspect the vehicles, and began firing on the vehicles as they drove through the checkpoint towards the building.

The explosion by the equivalent of a ton of dynamite brought down the roof and floors of the four-story building. The first reports said of as few as two dead. [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2003/06/mil-030620-voa05.htm 2 Killed in Grozny Suicide Truck Bombing] ] Ultimately, Chechen officials said 83 [http://www.stratfor.com/memberships/101273 Reports: Grozny Death Toll Reaches 83] ] people were killed (48 on the spot) and 210 were injured. [ [http://www.hrvc.net/news/7c-1-2003.html GROZNY BLAST KILLS 72, INJURES 210] ] Several Chechen administration officials were injured in the attack, including Deputy Prime Minister Zina Batyzheva (seriously wounded) and Chechen Security Council Secretary Rudnik Dudayev. The head of the pro-Russian administration in Chechnya, Akhmad Kadyrov, and his Prime Minister, Mikhail Babich, were not in the building at the time. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=RVMIVTR5FJORNQFIQMGSFFWAVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2002/12/28/wchech28.xml Chechen suicide bombers kill 46] ]

Responsibility

Colonel Ilya Shabalkin, spokesman for the joint federal forces in Chechnya, said the bombing was organized by Chechen rebel field commanders Abu al-Walid and Shamil Basayev. [ [http://www.rferl.org/reports/securitywatch/2003/01/1-070103.asp TWO EXPLOSIONS ROCK GOVERNMENT CENTER IN GROZNY] ] Basayev claimed responsibility for the planning and execution of the attack, saying that he personally detonated the bomb by remote control. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/11/db1101.xml Shamil Basayev] ]

Some news reports called the attack an act of terrorism, [ [http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/Terrorist-attack-on-the-local.html Terrorist attack on the local government headquarters in Grozny - Letter from President Chirac to President Putin, Paris 27.12.2002] ] [ [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/02/06/russia.timeline/index.html Timeline: Terrorism in Russia] ] which with 83 confirmed fatalities, would have been the deadliest terrorist attack in Chechnya. Others described the attackers as militants and rebels and not terrorists. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07EED61F3CF93BA15751C1A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all Suicide Bombers Kill at Least 46 At Chechen Government Offices] ] [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3019493.stm Many killed in Chechen blast] ]

References

External links

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2609679.stm Chechen rebels punch ever harder] , BBC News, 27 December, 2002
* [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,866123,00.html Chechnya suicide bombers 'used Russian military links'] , "The Guardian", December 29 2002